>> north dakota governor doug burgum delivers his state of the state address to the legislative assembly in bismarck. this is the governors third address since taking office. >> lieutenant governor sanford, governor schafer, mr. speaker, distinguished members of the 66th legislative assembly, chief justice vandewalle and justices of the supreme court, fellow elected officials, tribal leaders, cabinet members, first lady kathryn, my children joe, jesse and tom, second lady sandi, family and friends, fellow citizens of north dakota, welcome, and thank you all for joining us today. it's truly an honor for brent, kathryn and i to serve the citizens of north dakota. we're filled with gratitude every day for the opportunity to make a difference for our state and its citizens.

as we enter this chamber, filled today with the three branches of government and leaders of our sovereign tribal nations, one can't help but reflect on the incredible progress we have made. great music, , great song about our country, about america and think about together what we can accomplish in the unlimited potential that lies ahead when we all work together. thank you. [applause] 130 years ago this coming november, president benjamin harrison signed north dakota into statehood. that same year, george eastman, after buying 21 camera patents

from david houston of hunter, north dakota, created a photography revolution with a flexible rolled film camera, called kodak. for those from the arthur hunter airey know when we were kids before they moved to houston we cystic over there and explore it. it's a modern day term for breaking in. [laughing] he had in the center of this beautiful old farmhouse before got moved they had a dark room and we thought it was pretty cool to sneak in there and try to find the secret room. but that was in 1889, and north dakota coming in as new state had a population of roughly 190,000 people. our state grew, we grew rapidly over the next 40 years to 680,000 in 1930 and then something happened to us and our state that didn't happen to any other state, our population shrank. from 1930 all the way to 2011 we did not break that record. we were the only state in the

nation that shrank over that timeframe. really one of the only places in the world that was shrinking population. last year and last use our state have started to grow again and her state grew by more than 4900 people last year. that may not seem like much to any of you but to me that's like adding 14 arthurs in one year. that's a lot, incredible. the census bureau estimates are new total population for the state surpasses 760,000 for the first time in state history. [applause] it's easy to understand why a scarcity mindset may still invade our thinking, given that many of our citizens had direct experience with our decades of out-migration and rural depopulation, and if it returns

a news we're constantly being subjected to claims that things are getting worse. let's take a minute and pull back and take a look of the facts because the facts show otherwise. let's take a look at the globe because we are part of the global system. extreme global poverty has been cut in half over the last 20 years. over a billion people been lifted out of poverty, 75% of the world now lives in middle income countries. global life expectancy is up to 72 years, the highest it has ever been. across the globe, we've seen dramatic decreases in deaths related to disease, war and natural disasters, and dramatic increases in access to clean water and electricity, literacy, food production, internet access and immunizations. abundance, by nearly every measure, is on the rise. yes, the world is getting better and better, and doing so at a rapid pace. why does this matter to north dakota? for two reasons.

first, a world with improving health and increasing incomes will consume more energy, more food, and more technology. the world will need more and more of what north dakota has. second, it matters in the context of the united states, and north dakota's role in the world. as american citizens, we all are blessed with freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to own property, and the right to bear arms. part of her amazing democracy, each of our 50 states is a laboratory of democracy. we have an administration in d.c. that understands the states created the federal government, not the other way around. and in north dakota, we can choose our own destiny. today, the state of the state is that we stand at the cusp of a

new era in north dakota's history. and by harnessing the courage to dare greatly, we will cultivate a prosperous future for generations to come. with action we will shine. [applause] we truly live in a state of abundance, and we have the humility, we older, 22 much of her good fortune is derived from our god-given natural resources, namely our soil, our water, our coal, our wind, our gas and oil. we combine these resources with the power of human ingenuity has allowed us to build and grow a dynamic and increasingly diversified economy. this private sector prosperity has allowed us to build and maintain a strong foundation in k-12 and higher education, investing in our number one resource, the young people of north dakota.

right now, we can make smart, bold investments with long-lasting impacts, while delivering a fiscally conservative and structurally sound budget that improves transparency, replenishes reserves, and just we can do all that and we can do it without raising taxes. [applause] yes, life is good here, and yes, we can make it even better. according to u.s. news and world report, north dakotans enjoy the best quality of life in the nation. the magazine said our small towns and those of us who grew up there know this, that our small towns promote a positive social environment in which people that we support one another but they're able to engage in their communities, and they feel and in no they're making a difference. the same applies to a bustling

and growing urban areas. in north dakota, everyone has a chance to make their mark, to make a difference, and to truly be legendary. we've been one of the five fastest-growing states percentage-wise since 2010, growing by 13%, and we're expected to retain our rank as the fourth-youngest state. earlier this year we were ranked the best state for millennials, with our low unemployment, affordable housing, and nation-leading increase in wages since 2007. and north dakota again made the list of 10 best states to start a business. that's fantastic because her future is built around innovators and entrepreneurs. taxable sales and purchases for july, august and september were up 18% compared with the same period last year. that's the highest year-over-year percentage increase since the third quarter of 2012. in fact, year-over-year taxable sales and purchases have increased every quarter since april 2017. once again, north dakota is on the grow. [applause]

our economy isn't the only place where our health is improving, north dakota moved up five spots from number 18 to number 13 in this year's america's health rankings by united health foundation, including ranking 1st in air quality. our oil and gas producers continue to shatter production records. daily output has increased to a record 1.39 million barrels per day in october, strengthening our position as the nation's number two oil producer. we also produced a record amount of gas in october, an incredible 2.56 billion cubic feet per day, which is nearly double what we were producing in june of 2014. we rank 6th in overall energy production, proving to the world that energy production and environmental stewardship aren't mutually exclusive.

a good example is the intelligent pipeline integrity program, or ipipe, a public-private partnership studying emerging technologies to detect and prevent pipeline leaks. they are studying emerging technology to detect and prevent pipeline leaks. six projects have been funded so far, showing exciting and promising results. again, this is happening because we believe innovation, not regulation, is the best way to solve complex challenges in a digital age. [applause] adding value to our enormous natural gas production is a tremendous opportunity. converting gas to plastics or fertilizer, using gas to heat commercial-scale greenhouses for year-round local food production, converting gas to

electrons to be exported on transmission lines, or reinjecting gas back into the ground as part of enhanced oil recovery, each of these represents a billion-dollar business opportunity. substantial progress on gas capture is in our near future, with billions of private capital being invested in mid-stream processing and gathering pipelines, but more capacity will be needed as our gas-to-oil ratio continues to grow. and we must ensure our regulations incent, versus discourage, capital investment. our lignite industry continues to innovate and invest, providing essential baseload electricity to the grid, despite long-term economic and regulatory uncertainty created by over-reaching federal policy in the previous administration. this industry continues to move forward. project tundra, which aims to capture carbon dioxide that can be used to revitalize old oil wells, was recently awarded the

largest grant in the history of the lignite research council, $15 million. this partnership between the energy and environmental research center at und, lignite, and the oil and gas industry is transforming power plant emissions to a marketable, value-added commodity. [applause] our agricultural producers, who are among the best and most productive in the world, continue to invest in new technology and precision farming and ranching approaches, despite volatile prices and uncertainty with international markets. it's exciting to see evolving partnerships between industries adding value and developing new markets, such as marathon converting their dickinson refinery to renewable biofuels and providing a huge new value-added market for north dakota soybeans.

advancing these core industries requires teamwork and collaboration. that's why our budget proposal dedicates nearly $200 million for continued research in agriculture, oil and gas, and lignite. our farmers and ranchers can compete with anyone, anywhere, if given a level playing field. [applause] for consistently providing this nation and the world with a low-cost, high-quality food supply, they deserve our deepest gratitude. we continue to make great progress on the five strategic initiatives outlined in this chamber two years ago. in 2017, we set out to transform education in north dakota. our goal: to ensure our k12 and higher education systems are best equipped to adapt to new technologies and delivery methods, and prepare students for success in the fast-changing

digital economy. two task forces created by executive order have published their final reports and recommendations, outlining a bold path forward for k-12 innovative education, and calling for stronger accountability and appropriate scale in higher education governance. on each of these 15-member task forces, legislative members serve with distinction, on the k-12 innovative education task force, representative cindy schreiber-beck and senator don schaible, and on the task force for higher education governance, representative mike nathe and shannon roers jones, and senators brad bekkedahl and joan heckaman. thank you all for your service on these task forces. [applause] in addition, we supported establishing the k-12 innovation academy.

this partnership between public entities and private philanthropy supplies concrete strategies for transforming education while also creating a statewide network to advance best practices and community-led initiatives. we've also expanded opportunities for communication, collaboration and meaningful engagement with each of the sovereign tribal nations within our borders. our indian affairs commission hosted two well-attended conferences this past year on strengthening government to government relationships and partnerships bringing together tribal leaders, federal, state, and local officials. thanks to the legislature, lt. governor sanford, tax commissioner ryan rauschenberger, indian affairs executive director scott davis and i had the unique opportunity to serve on the interim legislative tribal taxation

issues committee, which i was honored to chair. the committee had productive discussions with all of the tribes. as a result, house and senate leaders plan to co-sponsor legislation to allow the governor to enter into separate agreements with individual tribes, to administer sales and use taxes and wholesale taxes on alcohol and tobacco. to have these bills co-sponsored by legislative leadership sends a strong and welcome signal, of collaboration and improved relations. as we continue to engage with the tribes in discussions about oil and gas tax revenue distribution, law enforcement, behavioral health, and other priorities, we will do so with mutual respect and the understanding that we are all north dakotans. [applause] in that spirit of mutual

respect, we're honored to announce that the governor's office will begin to display the flags of the five tribal nations with whom we share geography, alongside our state and national flags, outside of the governor's office in memorial hall. [applause] thank you.

as a state, we can reach our fullest potential only if all people have the opportunity to reach theirs. addiction and mental health issues also can keep us from reaching our fullest potential. our state suffers from a behavioral health crisis, which carries significant negative impacts for our people, our families and our economy. first lady kathryn has been an incredibly courageous leader in addressing head-on the disease of addiction with the goal of eliminating the shame and stigma of the disease of addiction so we can normalize the conversation like we do around any other chronic, progressive, and ultimately fatal disease. her courage and example are inspiring others to share their stories to seek recovery and to

celebrate its hope and power. please join me in thanking the first lady of north dakota. [applause] on behalf of katherine apple to say thank you to all of you who supported her in her efforts. it means a lot. with kathryn's leadership, we created the office of recovery reinvented to promote these efforts with help from behavioral health professionals and community and tribal leaders. in october, more than 1,200 people attended our second annual recovery reinvented

summit in person or online sharing best practices and further lifting the veil of shame and stigma. we're also seeing progress with free through recovery, a program that provides effective, community-based behavioral health services to help those involved with the criminal justice system and struggling with addiction. this is a tangible outcome of last session's collaborative justice reinvestment efforts led by members of the legislative, judicial and executive branches. by moving $7 million upstream last session, this free through recovery partnership between the department of corrections and rehabilitation and the department of human services has provided access to care coordination, recovery services, and peer support to over 500 people so far. [applause]

one of those people is jyssica noble. like many who become trapped by the disease of addiction, jyssica's struggles with opioid addiction landed her in jail, left her homeless and brought her to the brink of death. thanks to cass county's drug court program, she was referred to free through recovery. she started recovery and she relapsed. wench did, her support specialist specialist care coordinator and probation officer also helped to get her on back to the road of recovery. we had a chance to sit down with the recently in her face-to-face conversation she said about her peer support specialist, these people cared and they did not have that in my life. you can find jyssica's powerful story of recovery on our website, and we're happy to have

her here with us today. please join me in recognizing jyssica for her courage and commitment on the road to recovery. [applause] justice reinvestment is just one great example of the power of reinventing government. citizens today expect government to safeguard their personal information and its financial assets from increasing cyber attacks. think of it, as a state with peoples tax information, their school information, medical information. we a huge responsibility to protect our citizens dated just like their safety. we need to do this while providing user-friendly digital

experiences because more and more citizens are interacting with us through online interaction. north dakota can be a world-class leader in technology. our goals include lowering costs, improving cybersecurity, and streamlining online services to improve the citizen experience across agencies, and ensuring members of team nd have the tools to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. to accomplish this, we're creating a unified it shared service organization. already, we have aligned the backend systems of 31 state agencies, saving more than half a million dollars in product, hosting costs and the number of staff it takes to do the work. but we still have over 400 organizations that touch our statewide networks. today, nearly every 400

organizations is responsible for the own cybersecurity. this is not nearly impossible. i think it is a new impossible task and is one that is full of risk. we're calling for incremental investment of $16.4 million to centralize cybersecurity, and help protect against approximately 5.6 million cyberattacks per month. we know that even one breach or financial attack by a bad actor could be far costlier. our budget also calls for $174 million to fund 24 it projects that will support 19 agencies and improve public safety, citizen-government interactions and voting integrity. this is the critical

infrastructure. it's just as important as a road or bridge and interconnected world and it is a necessary investment to protect our citizens personal and private data. [applause] turning to main street. communities representing more than half a million north dakotans are engaged in one or more of the main street initiative's three pillars, exploring what they can do to build healthy, vibrant communities with smart, efficient infrastructure to attract a 21st century workforce. participation continues to grow, with 61 communities large and small engaged so far from grand forks to williston and regan to robinson. those who have participated in one of our 45 main street listening sessions report positive results experiencing greater engagement from their community members and increased momentum on community projects.

in the southwest, more than 150 community members took part in helping hettinger day, a communitywide improvement project. in north-central north dakota, rugby high schoolers launched a video project highlighting the history and importance of their remaining downtown buildings, building momentum for local improvement efforts. and in the southeast corner, hankinson just renewed their renaissance zone and has 53 renaissance zone projects. based on input from our visits, we've launched the main street community leaders peer network to share best practices and promote learning on msi-related topics. and we've targeted federal block grant dollars to fund 15 projects totaling over $2.3 million for main street development, public facilities and services. we will continue to provide tailored technical assistance, share best practices and help communities empower and engage their youth and young leaders. in grand forks, which received

one of our main street excellence awards, the young professionals group is leading the charge on main street. young people have been appointed to civic boards, and scholarships have been awarded to both high school and college students with main street ideas. our first-ever main street summit hosted more than 650 people last february, and we're already planning our second summit for october 30-31, so save the date. bring your community leaders and come to the conference next october. we've made great progress these first two years, but our journey has not been without its bumps. when we took off with just over two years ago there was a perfect storm of circumstances that were testing a result during our first days, weeks and year in office, from tremendously large and expensive national protests to crashing commodity prices, to a historic drought that summer,

the stalled fargo-moorhead diversion project, now moving again after last week's permit from minnesota to having to close the largest budget gap in state history. thanks to the unbreakable spirit of our citizens, the hard work of our state agencies and the foresight of our elected leaders to plan for a rainy day, our state is stronger than ever. [applause] that strength springs first and foremost from our north dakota citizens and also from the courage of our elected official who stand in the arena and serve with them at all levels of the government, including the newly elected legislators here today. for their dedication and willingness to serve, would all 18 of our newly sworn-in legislators please stand and be recognized. welcome to the capitol.

[applause] congratulations as well to our statewide elected officials who earned the opportunity to continue their outstanding service to our citizens. i was excited to have been all reelected. would love to have them stand and be recognized as well, the ones that are reelected attorney general wayne , stenehjem, agriculture commissioner doug goehring, secretary of state al jaeger, tax commissioner ryan rauschenberger, public service commissioners randy christmann and brian kroshus, and supreme court justice lisa fair mcevers. congratulations. glad you're back. [applause] ..

thank you for your past and future leadership in their respective chambers. brent and our team look forward to working with you on a collaborative session. congratulations and thank you. [applause] >> so many things that we touch in north dakota in these chambers, also affected by the federal government and we've always had great relationships with our federal partners. we've seen that on tribal affairs. we've seen it across a number of agencies, really improving the last two years, but we're also looking forward to working not just with our leaders here in bismarck and across the state, but in our nation's capital. and being sworn in today and

congressman armstrong, together, working together to reach our fullest potential and make sure that we have the opportunity to do as we say, the six words that we believe capture what this administration is about, which is to empower people, improve lives and inspire success. [applaus [applause] >> our state is ready to go to the next level because of the tremendous progress that's been made in the last two years. we have a forward looking agenda that's focused on solving work force challenges, increasing budget transparency, investing in our people and investing in our future. our economy continues to grow, but work force remains the number one gating factor for economic growth. now is the time for all of us to work together to redouble our efforts to equip our work force with the skills needed to

prosper in a digital economy. we can start right now, dedicating 30 million in legacy fund earnings with a one-to-one match for year academies across the state like the successful collaborative effort between bismarck public schools and bismarck state college. here in bismarck, 1400 college students gather for learning at the career academy and receiving quality education in high wage, high demand technical careers that align with post secondary education. students can choose pathways to earn scholarships in areas such as health science, engineering, electronics, i.t., automotive, technology, aviation, carpentry and agriculture. we need to copy this model across our state. it works, it's effective. this is one time in education where i want everyone to know, it's okay to plaguerize.

for students and families, it's a winning formula. let's make it happen. [applaus [applause] >> strategic investment in our higher education system will ensure that our students are meeting record market demands and legacy fund earnings into the successful and proven north dakota higher education fun which requires a two to one match for philanthropic services and 120 million primarily for scholarships, and endowed shares and classroom construction equipment. another key to solve our work force is to transfer skills to north dakota. the development council revitalized last year recently delivered a report with more than three dozen recommendations and also would make that recommended reading for anyone serving the

legislature. they identified a number of things that we can choose to fix, and one of them was identifying that our current occupational licensing approach as one of the potential barriers. today we have over 80 licensed occupations in north dakota governed by 60 boards, agencies and commissions. and i had a chance to go back and look at old state of the states. in 1985, governor schaeffer asked the legislature to join him to refine, rethink, and reinvent the state's myriad boards and commissions. governor schaeffer and the legislature made progress in 1990's, but we reissue that invitation today. consider this example, when an airman from the air force base was deployed to the middle east, his wife wanted to be a registered dental assistant. a tuition cost of $16,000 and earned her california accreditation. when she returned to north dakota to reunite with her husband after he returned from deployment she was advised to

become certified she would need to take multiple national exams costing more than $700. after completing those successfully she was informed that north dakota would not recognize her california license, and she would have to take the entire ten month course then without being able to transfer any credits from california. this is one of the reasons why the federal government is also looking at that because we're in a time in history where we have the first time in history more jobs available in country than we have people seeking the jobs. we need to tackle everything that restricts us building a strong work force and one is the area of licensing. the u.s. department of labor, we're happy to say, awarded to north dakota, a 250,000 grant to study our license system so we can remove the barriers. building off the work already done by the legislature, the study will continue for the next three years and we're digging in now with the early work and high demand occupations. we're pleased to see proposed

legislation coming forward that would grant occupational licensing reciprocity for military spouses. this would make it more work friendly and deto retention. our budget proposes 100% state tax income exemption on military retirement pay to encourage more veterans after they've completed their service to stay and work in north dakota. we should thank our veterans not just for their service with our words and with our applause, but also with our actions. actions like this. and they certainly have earned it. let us remember, and never forget that since 9/11, since 9/11, the longest period of time in the history of our state, we've had continuously deployed north dakota national guard members deployed in harm's way defending our freedoms. i would ask that our veteran and active duty servicemen here today with men and women please

stand and be recognized for your service. [applaus [applause] >> and before i go forward i've got to make sure i've left somebody off. doug, we're super happy that you got reelected and i don't want anybody to think that, but if people don't know that. when we served together on our boards we do, i think three we serve together, to avoid confusion, he's doug one and i'm the other guy. stand up, doug, thank you for being reelected as well. [applaus [applause] >> for north dakota to remain competitive and to reach its fullest potential, we need

robust and innovative institutions of higher education. tech logic and competitive forces are challenging approaches that have lasted for hundreds of years. practices that worked in the past may not work in the future ap the business models, the economics of higher education are challenged like no time ever before in its history. what this calls for, organizations that honor threat from external forces need strong governance and we need stronger governance boards with the appropriate capacity to focus on the very missions of our two-year, four-year and our research institutions. this need is more apparent than ever. our current single board system of governance was created in 1938. our entire system had less than 8,000 students in 1938. i'm sure at that time -- and we had fewer doctoral degrees, fewer complexity, fewer everything, fewer buildings, fewer -- it was a different world. this one board eight-person model today is woefully

ill-matched in terms of band width in our institutions that serve more than 45,000 students. for us to be competitive and work in the future we probably need to be serving more than 45,000. the explosion of competition and chain from on-line and nontraditional education is forming an assault on our education. and those to thoughtfully consider a multi-board alternative simply because it created additional boards, should recall that our successful k-12 governance system -- i know some are opposed before the report came out. i would recommend, take a look at the report and this is an opportunity for us to show our curiosity, how we can improve. i believe this legislature can come forward with a proposal that's better than something

invented in 1938 and i'm entirely confident that a multi-board model can be achieved with a zero dollar fiscal note and paid for with realignment in the systems and institutions office and therefore, i didn't bring it up at the budget, because it's not a line item. we can reinvent our way through this one. many strengths of the current system can be retained. many people are nervous, common course numbering, and credit, and appropriations remain with you, with the legislature and not with the boards. stronger boards, more mission focus with deeper accountability and increased responsiveness and enhanced results and that's what we want from our institutions of higher government and higher learning and we can do that with stronger governance. state government as a whole has to become stronger and more nimble as we are confronted by economic and budget downturns the past three years. now is the time for us to

increase budget accountability and transparency and we're prepared to meet that challenge head-on. as we pledged two years ago, we can refine the revenue forecasting process with half a dozen of changes to assure the most efficient use of taxpayer resources. we fulfilled another goal using technology making spending more transparent on-line. visitors to the omb website will find a more user friend had i experience. and clear budget data, drill down and find vendor contracts and financial information about state government. check it out. our budget proposal also brings a new level of transparency to how our tax revenues support our day-to-day operations. instead of transferring tax revenues in the last days of the session in the general fund from a labyrinth of sources, we're proposing to the benefit of the people of north dakota, a direct, one billion dollar transfer to support general fund revenues, $1 billion

transfer of oil tax revenues. our number one priority to do this was to restore the structural balance in the general fund by bringing ongoing spending in line with ongoing revenues. living within our means. the last two budget cycles we relied on transfer to cover substantial general revenue fund shortfalls. that's like drawing money out of the your savings account to balance your checking account. it works, but not a way for long-term. some people said one billion, not doable. one billion is easily doable, why? because that's the average amount of oil tax revenue that's been passed in the general fund in the past bianneums. collecting 2.9 billion in oil tax revenue and we're expected to collect close to 5 billion this revenue so that's 20% of oil tax revenue coming into the general fund. it seems like as the number two

oil producing state in the nation. being more transparent will improve our state's bond rating. this lowers the interest rate for local political subdivisions who borrow through the state for infrastructure projects so we save local school districts and local cities money by being smarter here how we manage our budgeting process. it's also imperative that we replenish our reserves, that's why our budget calls for a transfer of 350 million to help fill the budget stablization fund to the max level. it was filled before and guess what? we use it had all when nobody expected to do that and thank goodness this legislature had the foresight to create that fund and to fund it because without that, there would have been real pain in our state a few years ago. there was pain, but we were able to maintain all essential services. taxpayers are most vulnerable citizens deserve the peace of mind knowing that we've refilled the budget stablization fund to its max. [applaus

[applause]. >> our team members and state's government also deserve a higher level of financial security. that's why we've proposed an infusion of 265 million into the pension fund to help close the $1 billion unfunded liability gap and save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars down the road. investing in team member salaries and health benefits will ensure that we continue to attract and retain the talent that state government needs to deliver services our citizens expect. recognizing employees for outstanding performance is one of the true joist-- joys of this job and i'd like to recognize those exemplifying first focus team dakota. these employees have all gone above and beyond. howie from the national guard. jenna, chad from itd.

michelle from human services. jen from d.o.t. carla valentine and sara please stand and be recognized for your public service. [applause] >> thank you for all that you do, for all of your excellence. these are just some representatives of the great and hardworking team north dakota members that we have across our state doing the work to keep our government going. during the last downturn, they stepped up and made a sacrifice like many of us did as well, and they had no salary increases the last two years and that's why we're going to keep pushing for a 4 and 2% salary increase with room to go to 4 and 4 for all of our dedicated state team members. [applaus

[applause] >> every north dakotan deserves to live a life of happiness and good health. mental and physical. to address our mental programs, to that end we propose spending, more than 19 million across the continuum of care, increasing funding from 7 million to 11.5 million for recovery services, to those that are beyond the criminal justice system. millions more for substance abuse vouchers and expanded treatment and programs, help outcomes and help move people into the work force and keep them working and the most vulnerable among us need to be involved. home based services for older adults including addiction, mental illness and brain

injury. while the recent trend has been to community-based services and away from institutional services, we need a small amount of the latter to serve at risk individuals. in doing so we're committed to improving the quality of care. that will not only achieve that goal, but allow us to repurpose the existing state 0 hospital as a minimal custody facility for men, with significant operational efficiencies. we also have a responsibility to ensure that the men and women in our correctional facilities are receiving equal treatment and equal access to medical and rehabilitative services. currently a strong argument could be made that we're falling short in that endeavor. we believe that the right thing to do for our female correctional residents and for our taxpayers are to relocate the women's prison services to the missouri correctional center south of bismarck.

two years ago, i stated my belief that schools in north dakota can be the best in the world. if we empower educators to lead that transformation to their classrooms, and we can cut the red tape that stands in their way. we must promote policies that complicate our educators well and the increase in the k-12 funding formula to help raise teachers salaries, proposing $10 million for the tile program being providing funding for development or leadership tubts that advanced district initiatives much like an extra duty contract. tile is one of the key policy recommend dpagss from the innovative education task force. we know that funding isn't everything and we know that funding isn't always enough. we must redesign our core

elements such as graduation requirements to support the cultivation. and we stand behind our educators and their work for their most precious resource, our students and i want to thank superintendent for that task force and great work you continue to do to fight for our students across the state. past governors and legislators have established a legacy of strong investments in infrastructure. we aim to build on that legacy proposing nearly 1.5 billion dollars for roads, essential water projects and airport infrastructure as well as 174 million for the new modern infrastructure, technology investments. with the legacy fund, we have a new opportunity to create a new kind of infrastructure legacy, not just one-time spending. we have an opportunity to create a revolving loan fund that continues to serve our state in perpetuity.

and infrastructure is one of the top priority for our administration and that's why the largest piece of our plan for legacy fund earnings goes into a 55 million dollar infrastructure revolving loan fund that could increase to 370 million in borrowing power. imagine super low interest loans for local subdivisions for street paving, to flood control projects and water treatment plants. and how about schools? with additional 25 million into the construction revolving loan fund. that's combined across the two revolving loan funds. 535 million dollars of essential and needed construction. our communities will benefit for generations to come. [applaus [applause]

>> at the same time, we must continue to embrace emerging technology such as unmanned aircraft systems for uas. with the northern planes uas site in grand forks, we're already a leader. that's why the federal government chose north dakota as only one of ten sites nationwide for the pilot project to determine how best to incorporate uas into the national air space. by investing 30 million into a statewide uas infrastructure network we can cement our status as approving ground. and the control system for drones flying beyond the line of sight will subor tcht operations. in the monitoring of essential energy infrastructure, such as pipelines and transmission lines. now to you, as legislators here today, i ask you for a minute

to sit back and envision with me what it would be like in a few short years, to be sitting in a ribbon cutting for the new theodore roosevelt presidential library and museum at the entrance to the theodore roosevelt national park. as you sit there, you will become part of history. because as a member of the 66th legislative assembly, your actions will have made that day possible. you'll be getting ready to sit back and listen to four or five living u.s. presidents who have traveled to north dakota to make remarks honoring the incredible life and legacy of one of our nation's greatest leaders. as proposed, the $50 million legacy fund earnings of library and museum is a two-to-one match. every dollar, every citizen's dollar will be matched by $2 from other sources federal,

foundation or local or individual private donor dollars. it can spur decisive action from donors and enable faster and larger commitments of resources from partners and collaborator collaborators. already, the proposal for the theodore roosevelt library and museum have received support from the partnership, from the national frus for historic preservation. and it's even received it from theodore roosevelt v, the president's great-great grandson who has been to north dakota multiple times supporting this project. also pledging their support for this project are the national park service, the theodore roosevelt foundation, and the theodore national park itself. that is why given the timing of the strong support from this federal administration, we urge the legislature to take up this proposal without delay.

swift passage will send a powerful message to all potential partners, both in and outside of north dakota, but the north dakota legislature understands both the lasting significance of this project to our state and its citizens and we understand that the opportunity window for capturing this coveted prize for north dakota is open right now. the tr library -- [applaus [applause] >> the tr library and museum -- the tr library and museum meets the criteria that we set forth for legacy fund projects and those include regional, state and national impact, that

it can be leveraged with partnerships to expand the impact of legacy earnings. it creates differentiation and sets north dakota apart while creating positive impacts for our economy and for our work force. this, and each of our legacy fund proposals will have lasting impacts beyond the current generation. both -- [applaus [applause] >> roosevelt's vision for america in his own words were, it's not a life of ignoblese, but rather a life built on sweat and toil, and on the courage to be in the arena versus a critic on the sidelines. the strenuous life is what stitched the cultural fabric of north dakota from the strong and lasting cultures of our indigenous tribes, whose lands and sovereign nations co-exist

within our borders, to the earliest immigrant pioneers who settled here, regardless of our background. how we view ourselves determines much of our path in life. if our heads are filled with self-defeating talks, our paths will reflect this and guess what? the same applies to us as a state and it especially applies to our roles as elected leaders. if we see ourselves in our state as too small, too distant, too cold, we will fall short of our potential. we must continually remind ourselves that being a north dakotan is not just geographgeo it's a choice, a powerful and compelling choice and that choice is open to anyone who

shares the spirit of self-reliance and self-respect, who feels the connection to our land, to our water, and to our wild life and who lives with a daring spirit of a pioneer. it's open to anyone who embraces challenges and hardship, who builds trust and community, and who lives with gratitude for our many, many blessings. and while we are abundant in resources, we certainly need more of one thing, we need more people willing to take risks, to push forward, to care deeply and to dare greatly. as our recently deported former president h.w. bush said, be bold in your caring, be bold in your dreaming, and above else, always do your best. this sunday in just a few short days, january 6th, marks the 100th anniversary of the

passing of theodore roosevelt. by immersing himself in the rugged, beautiful, and untamed badlands he transformed himself into a bold and fearless leader whose later actions transformed our nation and the world. as we stand at the cusp of this new era, let us seize the opportunity for north dakota to transform the image of ourselves. to reach beyond our self-doubts and any self-imposed limitations. now is the time to dream bold dreams. now is the time to build those dreams. now is the time to create lasting legacies. thank you, may god bless you, the united states of america, and the great state of north dakota. dakota. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily.

in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. provider. >> we're live this morning at the brookings institution here in washington for a conversation on how governme government government-- >> good morning and thank you for joining us on this balmy january morning in washington. i'd like to welcome you here today on behalf of the brookings instu